A discussion on the condition and safety of the A36’s underpasses.
Cllr Paul Sample
Minutes:
At the Chairman’s invitation Cllr Paul Sample led an item on the condition and safety of the A36’s underpasses.
Slides were shown detailing the condition of the A36 underpasses. Many of these were covered in graffiti tags and many were dark and vulnerable people often felt unsafe in the underpasses, particularly at night. Some of the underpasses were also prone to flooding.
Some underpasses had positive aspects such as the mosaics within the Greencroft underpass which had been installed previously by local residents, the street art mural on Milford Street and some of the new street art at New Bridge.
It was highlighted that pedestrians, particularly women and older people had an aversion to underpasses and people often went out of their way to avoid using them.
Cllr Sample posed a number of questions which he hoped could be answered now or in another forum, these were:
· Was there a problem?
· What do we need to do?
· Could we make underpasses feel safer?
· Could we improve cleaning and maintenance?
· How could we improve lighting, especially at night?
· Could CCTV be installed to make them safer?
· What did vulnerable groups want to happen?
· Could we turn underpasses into something we could be proud of?
· How could tagging be discouraged?
· Was there such a thing as “acceptable graffiti” or “street art”?
· Could we encourage community art projects or invite talented street artists to undertake specific projects?
There was a consensus amongst Members that helping to improve the underpasses was a good idea, in particular involving community groups to help develop projects. Although it was acknowledged that this could be difficult as often the underpasses were not owned by Wiltshire Council and there were several stakeholders involved, such as National Highways, Wiltshire Council and Salisbury City Council. It was hoped a multi-agency approach could help to resolve the issues. Cllr McClelland stated that a new pump unit was being manufactured for Exeter Street. Members floated the idea of setting up a working group involving the Area Board and stakeholders to discuss all the issues and try to find solutions.
Liz Batten, who was working in partnership with others to make a safer Salisbury in particular for women and girls, which in turn would make Salisbury safer for all, spoke and gave some details regarding work already undertaken on this matter. An action plan was being developed and having safer underpasses was a key part of the project. The Chairman hoped that Ms Batten could be part of the working group if set up.
Margaret Wilmott highlighted issues that cyclists who also used the underpasses encountered and stated that cyclists would also like to be represented on the working group.
Cllr Sample hoped that a holistic multi-agency approach could be taken to resolve issues and involving user groups was key as well. At the conclusion of the debate, it was,
Resolved:
That Salisbury Area Board would set up an underpasses working group to work on the issues raised regarding the condition and safety of the A36’s underpasses.